Торонто. Онтарио (english)

Московский Институт ПриборостроенияКафедра иностранных языковTORONTO, ONTARIOгруппа ИЭ-5-92.01Афанасьев ММосква 1994 г.Toronto Toronto, Ontario, has become Canada s best-known city. Once saddled witha reputation stodginess, it has been reborn and revitalized and now stands asone of North America s leaders at the arts, entertainment, and business.

Toronto boats a vast multicultural mix, with large groups of Italians,Germans, Portuguese, Ukrainians, Asians, and West Indians, each contributing tothe city s mosaic. The cosmopolitan blend offers visitors fine dining from aseemingly endless range of the cultures. Shoppers can browse through funkyboutiques on Queen

Street West, admire the best of designer fashions in therenovated district of Yorkville, or visit Eaton Centre, a four-level 25-million retail complex. For people watching and plenty of culinarydelights, there s Kensington Market, which features fresh produce, fish, andplenty of friendly conversation. The city was designed and, since, renovated tomake the most of its settings on the store of

Lake Ontario. The best view isfrom the CN Tower, a 553-metre spire that is considered the world s tallestfree-standing structure. Nearby is Harbourfron, alake side shopping, dinningand entertainment area whose restored warehouse is a centre for flea markets,art studios, and crafts shops. Much of the appeal of Toronto lies in its sense ofhistory, which dates back to 1749 when French fur traders from Quebecestablished a ford on the site.

The residents have worked to ensure thesurvival and revitalisation of such areas as St. Lawrence Market the place tobe on a Saturday when the farmers bring in their wares and a boomingChinatown, chock-full of restaurants and grocery stores.Toronto is a cultural bastion, with the ultra-modern O Keefe Centre,which is home to the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada the Art Gallry of

Ontario, with more than 15,000 works - from Old Masters tocontemporary art - in its permanent collection and the Royal Ontario Museumwith its vast array of art and artefacts from cultures the world over. businessand finance from another important element of the city, and Toronto s skylineis dominated by the high-rise towers of financial institutions. Among the mostnotable is the Royal Bank Tower, with its distinctive gold-embeddedwindowpanels.

CN TowerAt 553.33 meters the CN Tower is considered the world s tallestfree-standing structure. Construction took 40 months, cost 57 million,employed 1,573 workers, and was completed in June 1976. A slender columnresembling a giant needle, it weight 132,080 metric tons - the equivalent ofroughly 23,214 large elephants.Visitors can step inside one of four glass-faced elevators and be whiskedto the Skypod Observation level in under a minute. In all, there are threeobservation decks, at 342, 346,

and447 meters aboveground, the world s highestpublic observation gallery. Each of these offers panoramic views of greaterToronto, Toronto Islands, and, on a clear day, Niagara Falls and Buffalo, NewYork. Spectacular views are also to be had from Top Of Toronto, a restaurant atthe 350-metre level that makes a full revolution once every 72 minutes,

andSparkles, a nightclub at the 346-metre level. Those who prefer to dine on theground level can enjoy a snack in the family-style restaurant. The tower is astroll away from the lakefront and a walking tour of Harbourfront parks andmarinas.As any famous structure might, the CN Tower has inspired legions ofwould-be record setters. It has the longest metal staircase in the world 2,570steps , which is made available to the public

each year for a charity stairclimb. Stuntman Dar Robinson has jumped from the top of the tower twice - oncewith a parachute for the filming of the movie HIGHPOINT 1979 and once using awire cable for the TV show That s Incredible. On the tower s tenthanniversary, Spider Man Goodwin completed two free-style climbsoutside the glass elevator-shaft window.

SkyDomeSkyDome is the world s greatest entertainment center. It s a home to theToronto Blue Jays and Toronto Argonauts as well as host to wide variety ofother sporting spectaculars, concerts, family shows and consumeers shows.Just how big is Toronto,s SkyDome? Well, you could put eight Boeing 747son the playing field. Or all of Eaton Centre.

Or a 32-home subdivision. Or theRoman Colosseum. Even with the retractable roof closed, a 31-stoerey buildingscould fit inside the structure.The 500-million buildings opened on June 3, 1989, after 32 months ofconstruction. On that day, inclement weather forced the developers to provethat the multi-panelled roof could be closed in just 20 minutes. The roof runson a series of steel track and bogies, weighs 11,000 tons - the equivalent,roughly, of 3,734

automobiles - and is made up of steel tresses covered bycorrugated steel cladding.The eight-acre stadium offers sports fans five levels of seating and theworld s largest video replay screen. More than 50,000 people at a time canwatch a football or a baseball game, and there s also a 350-room hotel builtinto the north end of facility, with 70 rooms offering a view of the playingfield.But the building is much more than a place to watch sporting events underan open roof.

There are 23 fast-food stands, 48 beverage outlets, a 430-seatrestaurant for quick-service dining, a 300-foot-long bar overlooking the field,the largest McDonald s in North America, the Hard Rock Cafe, and a 120-seatmovie theatre where tours of the building begin. The CN Tower is a stroll awayfrom the stadium.Royal Ontario MuseumToronto s Royal Ontario Museum, knows affectionately as the

ROM, isCanada s Largest Public Museum, made even grander by a recent 55 millionrenovation and expansion project, covering the permanent galleries. Founded in1912 and opened two years later, the ROM today attracts more than one millionvisitors a year. Among its impressive holdings, which number more than sixmillion objects and speciments, are a Roman gallery, housing the country s mostextensive collection of antiquities the famous

Dinosaur gallery, with amastodon, stegosaurus, and other prehistoric creatures at home injungle settings a world class textile collection, with colourful walhangings,peiod costumes, and richly patterned fabrics on display though out the museum and the renowned Chinese collection, with 800 pieces displayed in traditionalroom settings and special gallery areas. Of particular note are the giant stonecamels and guardian figures of the Ming Tomb, the only Chinese tomb in theWestern world.

There are also galleries devoted to artefacts of Ontario andCanadiana.Next door is the McLaughlin Planetarium where the Theatre of the Starsuses 85 slide and video projectors to create planets, exploding stars, andother galactic phenomena. The Sigmund Samuel Building, a few blocks south ofthe main ROM building, focuses on Canada s rich cultural heritage with displaysof antique toys, cocking utensils,

oil paintings, pottery and sculpture. TheGeorge R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramc Art, directly across from the main ROMbuilding, is the only museum specializing in ceramic in North America.Niagara FallsEvery year more than 12 million people flock to Ontario to see the breathtacking natural phenomenon knows as

Niagara Falls. Many are honeymooners,although no one is quite sure how that tradition got started. They come to seethe combined cascading power of the 54-metre Canadian Falls - knows asHorseshoe Falls - and the American Falls, which soars to 56 metres. Together,these thundering cataracts rush over the brink at the rate of 39.1 millionImperial gallons of water per minute.

Statistic don t do justice to the majesty, the danger, or the romance ofthe Falls. They have to be seen in person, and there are a variety of ways toview the spectacle once your get there four Maid-of-Mist boats enter theHorseshoe Basin and pass directly in front of cataracts the Niagara SpanishAerocar spans mightly whirlpool where the river takes a 90-degree turn theGreat

Gorge Adventure provides a close view of the waters from half a continentplunging through the gorge at the river s narrowest point and three Table RockScenic Tunnels allow visitors to walk behind the Falls. To view the sights fromabove, opt for a 10-minute helicopter ride, rise to the top of the Skylon Towerobservation deck via the external glass-fronted elevators, or visit the viewingplatform at the Minolta Tower and

Marine Aquarium.If the real thing isn t enough, there s always IMAX Theatre s Niagara Miracles, Myths and Magic, shown on a six storey screen in the village ofNiagara Falls. While you re in town, you might consider stopping in at any of anumber of places designed to entertain, including the Ripley s Believe It OrNot Museum, the Elvis Presley Museum, Louis Tusaud s Museum, or the

DaredevilsExhibit.